Smallholding and Farms

If you are a smallholder or farmer who is looking for a way to reduce food waste from surpluses, join Foodshare!

Here’s a story which will inspire you:

As growers we are all familiar with the famine and the feast for crops. Foodshare originally started on an allotment where growers, when during the “feast” realised they often got the same surplus crops would often end up on the compost heap. A heart-breaking moment for any grower!

At the same time, food prices for fresh fruit and veg are rising, and will continue to do so as energy prices increase. As a result, those that need fresh food the most – charities – are unable to afford it.

Enter Foodshare! A pilot scheme at the village allotment in Milton, Cambridgeshire began in 2009. We talked to the Children’s Hospice a few hundred metres down the road and asked them if they would like any surpluses we had. They were over the moon.

In three months over £1,000 of fresh produce was donated substantially reducing the Hospice’s spiralling food bill. What’s more, the children were now eating the freshest food they could have – local, seasonal, and from harvest to plate in less than twenty-four hours.

In 2010, Foodshare launched nationally to inspire smallholders and farmers to donate their surplus food to local charities.

HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED

Simply sign up to Foodshare and either choose a local charity, or search the Foodshare Charity Map to see if a local charity has already registered.